Anna Alma-Tadema was the second daughter of Dutch painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and his French wife, Marie-Pauline Gressin-Dumoulin de Boisgirard who lived in Brussels. Her older sister, Laurense, was born in 1864. The girls' mother died in 1869. Lawrence and his daughters then moved to England. Her father married for the second time to Laura Epps in 1871, when Anna was four years old. Anna Alma-Tadema was raised in London with her family. Laurense received her education at home and it is believed that Anna was home-schooled as well. Anna Alma-Tadema appears at least twice in paintings by her father. In 1873, she and her sister were depicted in This is Our Corner, and then in 1883, her father painted her portrait. Anna's mother, father and step-mother were painters, and as a result, she was raised in a very artistic household. Lawrence was inspired by words from antiquity and developed a style that was emulated by Laura, Anna and other artists. Once he died, the popularity of his works and style waned for about six decades. Anna's sister, Laurense, was a poet, painter, novelist, critic, playwright, and short story author.
Work as an artist
Alma-Tadema was described by biographer Helen Zimmern as a "delicate, dainty artist who has inherited so much of her father's power for reproducing detail." During her time as an artist, Anna Alma-Tadema created several portraits, representations of flowers, as well as watercolor depictions of house interiors and buildings. One such example of Alma-Tadema's portraits is Miss Tessa Gosse. This and other works, such as The Misty Valley and The Gold Room, were shown at the Royal Academy of Arts. Anna Alma-Tadema made watercolours of the interior of the Alma-Tadema family house, Townshend House in Tichfield Terrace, near Regent's Park in London. The family home was extravagantly decorated by her father to resemble a Roman villa. The Drawing Room, which Alma-Tadema painted when she as a teenager, was exhibited in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Additionally, in 1885 Alma-Tadema painted The Gold Room, which also represented the interior of the family home. Alma-Tadema exhibited her works in England for approximately forty years, between 1885 and 1928. Alma-Tadema showed fifteen works at the Royal Academy between 1885 and 1928, including The Gold Room, Miss Tessa Gosse,The Misty Valley, and The Idler's Harvest. Although she resided in London, Anna Alma-Tadema also exhibited works abroad. In 1889, she won a medal at an exhibition in Paris. Additionally, Anna, her father Lawrence, and her stepmother Laura all exhibited and won prizes at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Anna Alma-Tadema's works continue to be exhibited today. For example, the artist's works were included within the April 2011Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition, The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860–1900 in London.
Selected works
Personal life
Alma-Tadema was committed to women's suffrage and signed the Some Supporters of the Women's Suffrage Movement in 1897. Neither Anna Alma-Tadema nor her sister married. They were poor and did not have successful careers in their later years.
